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Latest
China
Economy
Hong Kong
Asia
Business
Tech
Lifestyle
People & Culture
World
Opinion
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China waits in wings as Mecca pact signals Gulf move beyond US security umbrella

The Nato-style deal between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey highlights the growing doubts in the region about over-reliance on Washington.

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The defence pact fuelled talk of an “Islamic Nato”. Photo: EPA

Diplomacy

Can Europe stay united in China trade battle? Ceuta crisis offers a warning

4

Health & Environment

Calls for system review after lowest alert in force during record-breaking heat

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Diplomacy

China-Australia relations reach ‘good enough’ baseline, ex-envoy says

Canberra is described as quietly confident in its resilience yet wary of Beijing’s overtures to go further and into new areas of activity.

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Graham Fletcher served as Australia’s ambassador to China from 2019 to 2024. Photo: Handout

Middle East

Netanyahu rejects Gaza plan in new break from Trump

Polls show that the Gaza plan is unpopular with Netanyahu’s right-wing base, and far-right members of his cabinet have urged him to kill it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, is running even or trailing in some polls ahead of October 27 elections. Photo: dpa

Middle East

Trump says US is ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, stresses economic pain

‘We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,’ the US president was quoted as saying.

US President Donald Trump at the US State Department in Washington. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

China EVs

Demand for affordable EVs will force open US market to Chinese models: analysts

The pressure is likely to mount after consumers in the two neighbouring markets of Mexico and Canada adopt Chinese EVs.

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Cars for export including BYD, Cherry and SAIC models, are seen at Shanghai port in Shanghai on August 7, 2026. Photo: CN-STR/AFP

Business

How UOB is turning regional scale into customer relevance

In partnership with:UOB
UOB aims to become the primary bank for all of its customers by providing a single point of contact for financial needs ranging from everyday transactions to wealth planning. Photo: UOB

Southeast Asia

Thai school shooter had watched violent content online: police

Police also said that last year a teacher had confiscated a BB gun, a type of air gun, that the boy took ‌to school.

Police officers work at the building where the shooting occurred at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province, Thailand on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

Middle East

Yemen’s Houthis attack Saudi refinery after kingdom signs defence pact

In a separate statement, Yemen’s military said the Houthis carried out missile and drone strikes on the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Mocha.

A display of Houthi-made mock drones and missiles at a square in Sana’a, Yemen. On Sunday, Yemen’s Houthis claimed to have attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery. Photo: EPA

Diplomacy

Chinese vloggers are taking to YouTube to ‘set the record straight’

Videos documenting daily life in big cities, small towns and villages are aimed at overseas viewers and emphasise authentic perspectives.

Sasa Xu is one of thousands of Chinese telling their stories for a foreign audience. Photo: Handout

Europe

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin with directing criminal organisation

Daniel Kinahan, who was extradited from the UAE, is accused of running an ‌international drug smuggling and money-laundering empire.

Members of the media wait outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, Ireland ahead of alleged Irish crime boss Daniel Kinahan’s appearance on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Europe

Over 200 firefighters battle blaze in southern France

Officials said the fire, which forced evacuations, might have been sparked by a car catching fire on a local road.

Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire in the Corbieres massif near Saint-André-de-Roquelongue, south-western France on Thursday. On Sunday, a fast-moving fire in the Lozere region forced evacuations. Photo: AFP
SERIES: How can Hong Kong age well?

Inside a paper coffin: how Hongkongers can prepare for the end of life

A 2025 study found Hongkongers lagged behind Singapore in death literacy, scoring 4.68 out of 10 on knowledge and preparedness for the end of life.

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Regina Luk (in blue) organises a living funeral for her friends. Photo: Handout

United States & Canada

Woman and baby die after boat capsizes in New York harbour

Authorities are investigating whether the vessel was an illegal charter.

The Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline are seen through a cover of wildfire smoke from New York Harbour on July 16. Photo: Reuters

Tech Trends

China’s ‘little Nvidia’ plans Hong Kong listing after 147% revenue jump

The Chinese AI chip developer plans a listing in Hong Kong to deepen its ‘international strategic footprint’.

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People visit the Moore Threads booth at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Photo: Getty Images

Middle East

Iran says Oman deal is in ‘final stages’ but US must act to open Hormuz

Iran and the US are not engaged in talks and Tehran will not start them as long as Washington breaches an interim deal signed in June.

Vehicles drive past an anti-US billboard at Enghelab Square in central Tehran, Iran on Sunday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the agreement with Oman would not imply reopening the Strait of Hormuz without the United States accepting the Iranian proposals. Photo: EPA

China

Chinese boy, 9, missing after being swept away by wave during typhoon’s approach

Rescuers still searching for child, who was taken across a causeway by two adults in Zhejiang when a typhoon warning was already in place.

Video footage shows a family of two adults and two children — frantically sprinting across a stone and cement causeway that connects the mainland to a rocky offshore island. After a colossal wave several metres tall smashed over the path, a nine-year-old boy who has been missing since he was swept away by a giant wave in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. Photo: Handout
The boy was trying to cross a causeway with two adults and another child when he was hit by a giant wave. Photo: Handout

Politics

How Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan pact acts as ‘insurance’ over US disengagement

The Mecca deal may emerge as a third geopolitical ‘centre of gravity’ in the Middle East, with more members joining, analysts say.

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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (centre), flanked by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, signing a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday. Photo: Turkish Presidency Press Office/AFP
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left), Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (centre) and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meet in Mecca on Friday to sign a joint defence agreement. Photo Turkish Presidency Press/AFP
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Diplomacy

How China’s ‘magic’ rice seeds are transforming the fortunes of Nigerian farmers

Beijing’s hands-off approach challenges traditional Western aid models, prompting Washington to counter with agribusiness interventions.

Green Agriculture West Africa Limited's R1 rice variety has proved popular for its resistance to disease and ability to grow on diverse terrain. Photo: Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria
OPINION
David Dodwell
Opinion |

Why Asia need not match West’s fear over data centre buildout

9 Aug 2026 - 4:30PM
David Dodwell
Wenran Jiang
Opinion |

Japan’s defence white paper is the opening move in a longer game

9 Aug 2026 - 8:30PM
Wenran Jiang
Christine Loh
Opinion |

Hong Kong’s 5-year plan can’t just be a laundry list

9 Aug 2026 - 9:30AM
Christine Loh
Jawad Khalid
Opinion |

South Asia’s Gen Z protests offer one lesson in common

9 Aug 2026 - 5:30AM
Jawad Khalid
Letters |

Passing a driving test in Hong Kong shouldn’t be an Odyssean ordeal

9 Aug 2026 - 11:30AM
Editorial |

A stacked sporting calendar gives Hong Kong the winning edge

9 Aug 2026 - 7:15AM
Harry’s View | 10 Aug 2026
August 10, 2026
More Opinion
Latest

Middle East

Trump says US is ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, stresses economic pain

Europe

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin with directing criminal organisation

Middle East

Yemen’s Houthis attack Saudi refinery after kingdom signs defence pact

Europe

Over 200 firefighters battle blaze in southern France

Europe

Cologne marches for queer community after Berlin Pride attack

More Latest News
SCMP Series
US at 250
Confronting cancer in Hong Kong
China-Africa evolving partnership
Hong Kong 29 years after handover
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
SCMP SeriesUS at 250

How America’s 250-year China dream became its greatest strategic challenge

Historians trace how US hopes of trade, reform and friendship gave way to rivalry with the power it once sought to transform.

48

Did Trump’s tariffs paint the US into an economic corner?

24

Politics over progress: how US-China tensions slow scientific advancements

10
Open Questions series-
Global experts discuss US-China ties, the Chinese economy and more.

Open Questions | ‘Surprising’ how fast China’s military is closing US gap: analyst Lyle Goldstein

Beijing’s challenge is to resist temptation to build the PLA into a ‘hammer looking for a nail’, former US Naval War College professor says.

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Illustration: Brian Wang

Open Questions | China’s military goal is to stand neck and neck with US: ex-PLA colonel Zhou Bo

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Open Questions | Nobel laureate Simon Johnson on the AI race and China’s ‘over-automation’ risks

19

Open Questions | Citic Capital’s Zhang Yichen on the ABCs of China’s markets: IPOs, M&As and AI

China Future Tech
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Big Tech

Slapped with reality: why Huawei’s top chip scientist embraces war-hero mindset

In viral interview, Liao Heng talks navigating US curbs to make Ascend processors, placing innovation over nanometres for chip self-reliance.

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An image of a semiconductor displays the name of Huawei Technology’s chip-design unit, HiSilicon. Photo: handout

Tech Trends

China’s ‘little Nvidia’ plans Hong Kong listing after 147% revenue jump

4

Companies

China races to develop brain-computer interfaces that can be inserted in minutes

Big Tech

Jevons Paradox: why China’s cheap AI models could be good for Silicon Valley

SCMP SHORTS
Indonesia holds military-style boot camps for minimarket workers as part of job training
Indonesia holds military-style boot camps for minimarket workers as part of job training
Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing breaks out of diplomatic isolation with Thai state visit
Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing breaks out of diplomatic isolation with Thai state visit
Residents sign directives as new end-of-life law takes effect in Hong Kong
Residents sign directives as new end-of-life law takes effect in Hong Kong
‘Lyrical Maverick’ Peter Lai, who wrote multiple hits for Cantopop stars, dies at 76
‘Lyrical Maverick’ Peter Lai, who wrote multiple hits for Cantopop stars, dies at 76
Bangkok airport apologises after boarding gate clash involving Chinese tourists
Bangkok airport apologises after boarding gate clash involving Chinese tourists
SCMP Spotlight

Military

In Focus | Why China’s military is laser-focused on ‘disruptive’ technologies

From artificial intelligence to quantum technology and hypersonic weapons, the PLA is in a race to define the next era of warfare.

20
Illustration: Henry Wong

Military

Why is China’s Communist Party intent on control over the military?

26

Politics

Did the Ukraine war spark China’s ban on most civilian drone flights in cities?

Tech Trends

Insert token: how China’s surging AI use is turning compute into currency

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